The Heaps Reclamation Project

[Hsaru]

Agreed. I think you start Riley against SJSU - the worst thing you could do to Jake would be to put him out there again with the fans booing and calling for Riley and bench him again in favor of Riley after a few series.

It wouldn't hurt Jake to have to watch a couple of games from the bench. And if Riley starts to look decent, it wouldn't hurt Jake to redshirt next year while Riley plays and then try to win the job for his last two years.

I don't know if there is anything more terrifying than going into our first potential Big 12 season with Riley at the helm.

[TripletDaddy]

He isn't wanting to go to away games because we could improve, I doubt he'd be looking into tickets if we were 5-0 and riding high with Heaps, there is a different reason.

Not sure I follow.

Look, I'm not saying Shaka is wrong or that a shakeup won't be helpful. But over the course of the next 2 seasons and with a B12 move imminent, as a fan I vote for working with Jake through his issues. I think this is a critical time for his confidence. That would not preclude benching him for a bit but I think long term you stick with the kid.

I was cheering Riley as much as everyone else. I'm happy BYU won and the ending was great. But as I said before, my main takeaway was that BYU has problemas at QB, not that we have found a new QB.

[MarkGrace]

Agreed. I think you start Riley against SJSU - the worst thing you could do to Jake would be to put him out there again with the fans booing and calling for Riley and bench him again in favor of Riley after a few series.

It wouldn't hurt Jake to have to watch a couple of games from the bench. And if Riley starts to look decent, it wouldn't hurt Jake to redshirt next year while Riley plays and then try to win the job for his last two years.

That's pretty much were I am as well. Some have suggested that you start Jake but keep him on a short leash. I think that's the worst thing you can do, because he's already so up in his own head that the increased pressure would only make things worse. Right now you have to do everything you can to ease the pressure, not increase it.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I don't know if there is anything more terrifying than going into our first potential Big 12 season with Riley at the helm.

The only thing I can think of is doing it with the Jake Heaps at the helm. Yikes.

[Hsaru]

The only thing I can think of is doing it with the Jake Heaps at the helm. Yikes.

Jake Heaps has actually played full games and played pretty damn well, but now I see all these comments about how he is irredeemable, pretty laughable.

[TripletDaddy]

The only thing I can think of is doing it with the Jake Heaps at the helm. Yikes.

Leb, what do you do? I think everyone is in agreement that Jake is lacking in a few areas. Everyone also agrees that Riley has limitations. Even Shaka is not arguing that Riley is going to save the day.

But ultimately, you need to pick a QB to be the guy. What is your pick?

I doubt we will know until right before the game. Make SJSU prep for two QBs.

[CardiacCoug]

I don't know if there is anything more terrifying than going into our first potential Big 12 season with Riley at the helm.

I don't think Texas's QBs are much better than Riley right now.

[TheAzzuri]

Everyone thought Heaps was a known commodity. Look where that got us. At this point Riley is almost as big of a mystery as Jake. Just like Jake he has never had starter snaps in practice (remember he split all of that with Jake last year) and the chance to be the guy. I'll tell you this much, right now Riley is more accurate than Jake. He isn't pinpoint but he deserves a shot to see if he can't build on last week.

People need to quit bringing up Lark. He's barely in the mix. Last summer fans were always saying that Lark should be ahead of Nelson. One problem, he couldn't beat him out. This season there were those insisting that Lark would get the nod if Heaps went down. He didn't. Lark will get a start only if both Nelson and Heaps go down.

Perhaps the better way of saying it is that Riley's ceiling is a known. I hate to bash on the kid, because I love his fire. LOVE IT. He's a talented QB in every aspect, but one. And he could get away with a weak arm, but it's not just that it's weak. Detmer had a weak arm. Max Hall had a weak arm. Riley's arm is a liability. And given that he's a better runner than our RB's, his running the ball becomes our best offensive weapon. I just don't think that's a sustainable solution.

Again, I'm pretty much the only person advocating this, but I'll keep doing it. I would love him on the field in other capacities and even taking a few snaps in certain situations, just not every snap.

And yes, Lark may suck. But we're in this situation precisely because what because everyone (coaches, fans, media alike--mostly coaches) undersestimated the difference between a QB in practice and a QB during the game. So I don't put a huge amount of stock in the fact he couldn't beat out Riley for number 2. I can still see rationale for giving him some live snaps to see what he can really do.

I agree with your statement that this season isn't lost. I hate that attitude. But the bigger problem is that Heaps will never get his head on straight if our entire offense isn't worked out. In other words, I think Heaps is a symptom of a larger problem, not the "the" problem. We don't have any offensive identity.

[CardiacCoug]

Jake Heaps has actually played full games and played pretty damn well, but now I see all these comments about how he is irredeemable, pretty laughable.

He has been one of the 5 worst full-time QBs in the country this season by QB rating. He's been terrible.

I think everybody wanted and most people still want Jake to be the man and to live up to the expectations. What's the best way to get him there and to also be fair to the rest of the team and the fans? Seems to me like the first step is to go with Riley and take the pressure of Jake.

[Shaka]

He isn't wanting to go to away games because we could improve, I doubt he'd be looking into tickets if we were 5-0 and riding high with Heaps, there is a different reason.

Are you talking about me? If so you're full of shit. I go to a lot of away games. A number of members of this board have met me at them. In fact I met Triplet himself at an away game.

This season hasn't been as easy to get away because I coach football and haven't wanted to abandone this group of players for a weekend. Now that the season's end is approaching I can start thinking about traveling. The quarterback really doesn't figure in to the decision of whether or not I travel to a game.

[SCcoug]

The wise and venerable football sage Brendan Hartigan of BYUtv junior reporter fame has had it with Jake.

http://myutahlife.com/2011/10/its-ti...ps-to-grow-up/

[Shaka]

Just watched the Furious Monkey highlight video. Damn, that thing was a highlight video and did not make me feel good about our quarterback situation.

I wouldn't mind a look at Lark, either.

It was an exciting video but Nelson has some things to clean up as well. The most depressing thing is that at this moment he's throwing better than Heaps. That's not to say Jake didn't have a some good throws in this game.

[Hsaru]

The wise and venerable football sage Brendan Hartigan of BYUtv junior reporter fame has had it with Jake.

http://myutahlife.com/2011/10/its-ti...ps-to-grow-up/

LOL, we have an investigative reporter on our hands, get this guy a deal with the NYTimes.

[Green Monstah]

I don't know that I agree that RN's arm is a liability. In the three or four series we've seen this season he's moved the ball with his arm and legs. Notwithstanding the winning TD catch, he had some decent passes that loomed better than the ducks we saw last season.

Flame away, but Im on the Bandwagon. The proof, my friends, is in the pudding.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Leb, what do you do? I think everyone is in agreement that Jake is lacking in a few areas. Everyone also agrees that Riley has limitations. Even Shaka is not arguing that Riley is going to save the day.

But ultimately, you need to pick a QB to be the guy. What is your pick?

I doubt we will know until right before the game. Make SJSU prep for two QBs.

I would start Riley for a while and see how things go. Jake is a mess. I don't see how playing him while he is in this state helps either him or our program. Clearly, there is no way we would have won on Friday with Heaps at the helm. You can call it a lost season if you want, but I guarantee you that things can get much worse if we have a series of losses to awful teams and I think that could happen the way Jake is playing.

It won't kill him to sit for a while. He has earned some bench time.